in an alternate ribbon of time (my dances were sacred)
by softiesharpie
Summary: Sara and Ava accidentally travel to an alternate reality and their other selves are not like they'd expected them to be.


"Prepare for a crash landing!"

Is the last thing the team heard Gideon say before everything went back.

Ava groaned as she slowly regained consciousness, her head spinning as she tried to remember where she was and what had happened.

They were just cruising through the temporal zone like they always did when suddenly, the ship started becoming unstable. Gideon had been able to inform them that the engine malfunctioned and that had been... well, terrifying, to say the least.

Now, Ava was waking up and she didn't know where, or when, they were. She slowly looked around and gasped when she saw Sara unconscious on the floor next to her.

"Sara!" Ava started shaking Sara gently, willing her to wake up or at least show signs of herself being okay. "C'mon, babe." Ava quickly took Sara's wrist and felt for her pulse, letting out a sigh in relief when she felt one.

She knew that it might've been a bit irrational for her to think that Sara had died, but that was her first thought when she saw Sara in that state.

"Captain Lance and the rest of the Legends are stable, Director." Gideon's voice cut through through Ava's panic.

She looked around and saw the other Legends unconscious, noting that they looked like they wouldn't wake up any time soon.

Her mind raced as she tried to figure out what she should do right now. Bureau protocols state that if you are in an unknown time period, check your time courier and investigate.

That didn't sound so bad. She stood up and walked over to the front of the ship as she fiddled with her time courier.

May 16th, 2019

Ava furrowed her brows, that was the current day back in D.C. Did they just end up back where they first started?

She looked out the window and was more confused by what she saw. It looked like Star City, but different? Ava couldn't pinpoint the exact differences, but something seemed off about it.

"Gideon? Where are we?"

Gideon was silent for a moment, which only fueled Ava's anxiety and confusion, before replying, "I'm not sure, Director. I know that we are on the date, May 16th, in the year 2019. But I don't know where we are exactly."

"Weird." Ava muttered. She was tempted to get off of the ship to go investigate when she heard several groans accompanied by sounds of confusion.

"Ava?" Is the first thing Sara said as she started waking up, her body tensing before she completely sat up and forced herself awake. "Ava?" She asked again, starting to panic as she looked around.

She didn't know what happened, but she thought that maybe someone had hijacked the ship and took Ava.

"I'm right here, love." Ava went back over and kneeled down next to Sara.

Sara visibly relaxed and sighed. "What happened?"

"The engine malfunctioned and the ship rapidly traveled downward through the time stream. I do not know where we are, but it is currently May 16th, 2019." Gideon informed her.

Sara frowned, Gideon always knew where they were. Something was definitely wrong.

"What's going on, boss?" Mick grumbled as he and the rest of the team stood up, looking to their Captain for guidance.

"I'm... not sure exactly. Gideon doesn't know where we are." Sara said.

"I took a look at it while everyone was asleep... and it looks a lot like Star City." Ava chimed in when no one else said anything.

"Star City, eh? Why does that sound familiar?" Charlie said, Zari nodding in agreement.

"Because that's where I grew up." Sara said and made her way over to the windows. "I lived there for most of my life... before I joined the Legends." She said, and Ava couldn't quite tell what Sara was feeling. Her tone didn't give anything away.

"This does look a lot like it but..." Sara trailed off, not being able to find the right word.

"Different?" Ava filled in. "I knew something felt off about it." She trailed behind Sara and tried to get a better look at their surroundings.

"Cloak the ship please, Gideon." Sara requested.

"I can't, Captain. All main functions of the ship are down due to the crash landing. I'll need someone to go to the control room and help me get the backup engine to work"

Sara opened her mouth to speak but Zari cut her off, "I'm on it." Before she went to the control room. Ray, Nate, and Charlie went with her, the first two wanting to help with the engine problem and the third just wanting to be around Zari.

"What do we do?" Sara asked Ava, needing guidance now. They'd never been in a situation like this before, and she needed Ava's input so they could make a decision that wouldn't hurt the team.

"I think we should go look around. It doesn't look dangerous and my time courier doesn't detect any major anachronisms." Ava suggested. "We'd be safe, and maybe we could ask some of the locals where we are."

Sara smiled. "Good idea." She took Ava's hand and without turning around, she said, "Mick, just try to stay out of trouble and don't leave the ship, okay?"

When she didn't get a response, she looked over and saw Mick asleep on the floor. She chuckled, "he probably won't wake up until we get back." Ava nodded and started heading to the door to leave.

Once they stepped off of the Waverider, it became more apparent to them how closely this place resembled Star City. Luckily, the Waverider crashed in a secluded area so hopefully none of the locals would see it before Zari was able to fix the engine.

"This is... weird." Ava commented as they walked further away from the ship. "It looks so much like Star City but... something's off about it."

Sara nodded, looking around. The people seemed normal and oblivious to the Waverider crashing.

"Yeah... it looks pretty normal to me." Sara said.

"You two ladies look lost, do you need help finding something?" A voice suddenly said and Ava subconsciously took a step back.

"Um..." she went to speak but when she saw what the man looked like, she froze. It was Rip. But... it wasn't? He had an American accent and that definitely threw Ava off.

"I... we..." Sara tried to fill in for Ava but she couldn't speak. They both hadn't seen Rip since he sacrificed himself to save the world, and that had been almost a year ago.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I'm Ripley. Ripley Hunters. I couldn't help but notice that you two seemed a little lost and I wanted to see if you needed help with anything." He added a bit nervously. There was a stark contrast between him and the Rip Ava and Sara had known.

This Rip looked timid almost, fiddling with his glasses as he waited for either woman to speak.

"We are a bit lost," Ava finally said, "could you tell us where we are?"

Ripley smiled and said, "you're in Moon City! Do you need help with anything else?" He asked.

"Moon City, huh." Ava mumbled.

"No, that's all. Thank you." Sara told him and smiled as best as she could.

Ripley smiled back and fiddled with his glasses as he walked away.

"Moon City. How entirely unoriginal." Ava said, racking her brain for anything that would help them figure out why they were here.

Sara chuckled, "yeah." She sighed. "It's weird seeing Rip again," she squeezed Ava's hand, knowing the taller blonde had conflicting feelings about the fallen agent due to finding out she was a clone and connecting the dots of how closely Rip had been involved in her life.

"It was." Ava agreed. "I think we should keep looking around." She suggested and continued walking.

She was almost amazed at this place. It was so alike but yet, so different to Star City. She was intrigued and wanted to see more, even though she knew they probably shouldn't.

"Do you have any ideas about where we are? And why it looks like Star City but it isn't?" Sara asked after a few minutes of them just being silent and taking in everything.

"I... have an idea, yes." Ava admitted.

"What is it?" Sara asked.

"I—" Ava stopped abruptly when she saw something.

"Wait... is it just me or does that look a lot like my house?" She said as she went closer to it. The resemblance was uncanny.

"Yeah... but your house is in D.C.. So, why would it be in this version of Star City?" Sara said, though she couldn't deny how alike the house was to Ava's.

"I have no idea."

As Sara went closer, she started getting curious. She wanted to know more about this place they were in, a place that was so similar to where she grew up.

"We should go inside."

Ava stopped, tightening her grip on Sara's hand so she couldn't go closer to the house. "Absolutely not. We don't know what kind of damage it could cause to this time. Or who's living there." Ava adamantly said.

Sara pouted, something she knew could possibly get Ava to agree to this. "C'mon, baby. You can't deny that you're curious too." She said and gently pulled Ava closer.

"We won't get caught, I promise. And then after, we can go back to the ship and leave." Sara added and smiled, seeing Ava's frown start to soften.

"I don't know... this is entirely against Bureau regulations." Ava bit her lip.

"It's not breaking the rules if we don't get caught." Sara grinned mischievously and Ava pondered that.

Sara wasn't wrong, technically, and Ava was definitely intrigued by this place and wanted to know more.

"Okay fine. But, we're leaving right after this."

Sara nodded and leaned up so she could kiss Ava's cheek. "Deal. Now, let's go!" She smiled excitedly and pulled Ava over to the house before opening the door.

Surprisingly, it was unlocked. Which was odd, because Ava never left her doors unlocked, especially when she wasn't home.

They walked inside and instantly noticed how different the interior was from Ava's house.

The walls were painted lavender, there were shoes on the floor and three closed bags of chips on the couch.

Ava cringed at the state of unclean this apartment was in.

"Whoever lives here definitely isn't me." She said with a wince.

Sara laughed, "it isn't even that messy."

"It is! There are shoes on the floor, look! They aren't even organized and there's food on the couch! Which would attract bugs after while. Whoever lives here is a slob." Ava said, pointing to the shoes and the couch with a distinct look of disgust on her face.

"Okay, that's a bit much. They just aren't a neat freak like you are." Sara said.

"I'm not a neat freak, I just like things being clean, and in order." Ava defended herself.

"That's basically the definition of a neat freak, Aves."

Ava just shook her head as she went further into the house. She saw a picture frame and narrowed her eyes, was that—

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a motorcycle pulling up in front of the house. "Shit! They're here!" Ava immediately panicked.

This is it. I'm getting arrested. I'm going to spend the rest of my life in prison in a place that I don't even know.

Sara took Ava's hand and quickly pulled her up the stairs with her, opening the first door she saw and going in it. She closed it and moved towards the window to see who it was.

"Oh my god." She breathed out. "No way."

Ava frowned at Sara's response and she had to see for herself. She walked over to her and her eyes widened when she saw what Sara was looking at.

It was... herself? But, not really?

This Ava was wearing a black and red tank top with a black leather jacket over it, accompanied by her red jeans and black platform boots.

"Is that..." Ava trailed off when she saw Other Ava take the hand of someone else.

That someone else had had a striking resemblance to Sara except this Sara looked... softer. That was the best way Ava could describe her.

She had her long blonde hair tied in a high ponytail and she was wearing a pastel pink dress, carrying a backpack.

Ava noticed how Other Ava took the lead, helping Other Sara off of the motorcycle and guiding her into the house as she talked to her about something.

Ava heard the door open downstairs and noticed that neither woman seemed in a hurry to go upstairs. Which meant that Ava and Sara could still look around in the room they were in before Ava time couriered them away.

"They're us, right?" Sara was the first to break the silence.

"That's means that we're..."

"In an alternate reality, yes." Ava filled in. "It all makes sense now. Moon City being our Star City. Rip being Ripley. Me having an apartment here. Well... alternate me, that is."

"This is so weird... but I also kinda like it." Sara said, listening carefully to make sure that Other Sara and Other Ava were staying downstairs.

"Other you is so adorable." Ava said and smiled, looking at one of the photos that was on the dresser.

It was a picture of Other Sara grinning at the camera as she held up a trophy of some sort. She was dressed like a ballerina and it suddenly clicked to Ava.

"Oh my god... other you is a ballerina. That's so cute!" She almost squealed as she looked at Other Sara in the photo. She looked so similar yet so different to Sara. She looked younger, somehow, and less affected by the pain of the past.

"What?" Sara grabbed the photo and looked it at closely, she almost didn't recognize the other person staring back at her.

"So what you're saying is that we're in an alternate reality where I'm a ballerina and you're—"

"A punk, I think." Ava said as she found another picture.

In this one, it was Other Ava wearing all black sticking her middle finger out at the camera while she stuck her tongue out. Ava noticed that Other Ava not only had a septum piercing, which she actually thought looked pretty good, but half of her head was also shaved and she had tattoos on her arms.

"Wow." Is all Ava could say. This Other Ava seemed so different than herself.

Sara looked at the picture. "So we switched personalities basically."she settled on, looking at another picture of Other Ava and Other Sara together.

"Kind of, yes." Ava said, but she did smile at the fact that she and Sara were still together - even in another universe.

"Your Other Self seems so different than you, it's crazy." Ava said, looking at the same picture Sara was.

In this picture, Other Sara was wearing her ballerina outfit while standing on her toes to kiss Other Ava's cheek, while Other Ava was, again, wearing all black, holding Sara close and smiling.

"They look happy." Sara said, not realizing she was smiling until her cheeks started to hurt.

"They do." Ava agreed and wrapped her arm around Sara, pulling her closer as they looked at more photos together.

"What does it mean? That we're together in both universes?" Sara asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I... don't know exactly. But, to me... that means that we're soulmates." Ava smiled, kissing Sara's cheek. "That we were meant to be together no matter the circumstances."

Sara grinned at that. She loved it when Ava got like this - when she was just so inexplicably soft, when she lost herself in Sara's eyes and looked at Sara like she was her everything.

"Soulmates, huh?" Sara looked up at Ava with bright eyes. "That doesn't sound half bad."

Ava smiled, "no?"

"Not at all." Sara pulled her closer and kissed her. "But you'll never see me in a pink dress, sorry." She mumbled.

Ava giggled, "and you'll never see me with half my head shaved." She countered with a raised eyebrow.

"What about the septum?" Sara asked, she did think Ava would look good with one, considering how it looked on Other Ava.

"I... I wouldn't be opposed to that, honestly." Ava admitted with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"You wouldn't?"

Ava shook her head and grinned. "Nope. I mean, I am the Director. I can basically present myself however I want as long as I'm modestly dressed and it isn't too extreme."

"What about the tattoos?" Sara knew she was probably pushing her luck now.

"I'll think about it. If I did, it would be something small."

Sara was just surprised that Ava didn't completely shut down the idea.

She was about to say something else when she heard their Other Selves talking.

"Are you sure? I thought I heard something." Other Sara said as she glanced over at the stairs.

Other Ava looked in that direction and frowned, "I didn't hear anything. But I can go check, if you want." She shrugged and looked down at Other Sara, who just wrapped her arms around Other Ava and melted into her.

"What if it's a murderer or something?" Other Sara asked.

Other Ava kissed her head and held her close. "It isn't. I have a facial recognition scanner on the door, remember? Only we can get in here when the house is empty."

Other Sara frowned and went to speak again but Other Ava cut in, "you're safe, baby. I promise." She held her closer. "I'd never let anything happen to you, you know."

Other Sara finally relaxed and nodded. "I know, Avey. You'll always protect me."

"Always, Sare Bear." Other Ava kissed Other Sara's head again before saying, "how about we order pizza for dinner? You deserve it after your performance today."

Other Sara blushed and nodded. "I'd like that." She reluctantly pulled away and took Other Ava's hand before going into the kitchen with her.

"Avey?" Sara had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

"Sare Bear?" Ava countered as she chuckled quietly.

Sara cringed lightly at the pet name. "Okay, I think that's our cue to get going." She said.

Ava nodded and fiddled with her time courier. "Agreed. I don't want them to find us up here... or hear any other nicknames your other self has for me."

Sara laughed quietly as the portal appeared in front of them and they stepped through it back to the Waverider.

"Captain, I'm happy to inform you that Miss Tomaz and Mr. Palmer have successfully fixed the backup engine and the ship is ready for a time jump." Gideon greeted them.

Sara nodded. "Thank you, Gideon. Could you take us back to the temporal zone now?"

"Yes, Captain."

Ava went over and sat down on the chair next to Sara's.

"So, Avey, what do you want to tell the team when they ask what we saw." Sara asked with a grin, sitting down in her chair as they time jumped back to the temporal zone.

"Well, I was thinking that we tell them that we were in an alternate reality and saw Ballerina Sara Lance. How does that sound, Sare Bear?" Ava mirrored Sara's grin, teasing her.

"Maybe we should keep it simple and tell them it was a mistake and that we'll probably never go back there again?" Sara suggested, knowing that if the team so much as heard 'Sare Bear', they'd tease her with it for months.

"Deal. But only if you don't mention 'Avey' to anyone." Ava said with a chuckle.

"Deal... Avey."

Sara narrowly dodged a pillow — one Ava had somehow found — that was flying towards her head.


End file.
